I tell you – being out of your house for a month and a half
(with another month to go) because of a “plumbing malfunction” (to put it
lightly and cleanly) can really mess with the efficiency of your day. I’m one
of those people who enjoy routine in my daily life simply because it frees up
space in my head to think about other things (like this blog, or my call sheet,
or my playbook, etc.) that need to be done. So for the past couple of weeks,
I’ve been out of my element a little and devoting all my “free brain space” to
putting on the 2nd Annual RS Football Camp.
We had the camp this past Saturday and Sunday. About 35
campers from various teams were there, of all different abilities and
experience levels. I know I had a plan in place for the sessions that I taught,
but that it quickly changed when I saw the relative lack of experience of the
non-Surge OL I had. Being able to break things down in an almost semi-private
atmosphere was really good for them I think. They were able to ask all the
questions they wanted, and I had one of my second year players there as a
demonstrator. It really opened the rookies’ eyes to see someone who was in
their exact shoes just the year before at our first camp now being a leader of
sorts and holding her own very well in the competitive portion of the drills.
The guest coaches who came down were excellent as always.
Nate Benjamin from the Phoenix Phantomz, Scott McCarron from the Seattle
Majestics and Angel Rivera from the Dallas Elite all were at the heart of what
the camp is all about – getting players better. In Nate’s case, we’ve coached
with him more than we’ve coached against him, but we have faced him in the
regular season. Both Scott and Angel have been on the other sideline when the
stakes were higher – in the playoffs. But the fact that we might meet again
this year didn’t stop them for a minute from giving 100% to our players.
Coaching players you don’t know is fun. They aren’t bored
with your jokes! Many of my players know what I’m going to say before I say it.
Getting in front of a new audience is invigorating, and it really lets you know
whether or not you’ve simplified things down enough to get them to understand
what you’re saying. When you coach someone for an entire year, there is ample
opportunity to re-explain, try different ways of communicating a concept, etc.
But here, in order to be considered a success, the players have to be able to
“get it” quickly.
This year as a whole, we taught very little, if any, scheme.
We just taught technique, and then related how that particular technique would
fit into whatever their team was doing.
***
Speaking of technique, I thought I’d list out some of the
resources I’ve been using to make tweaks to my drills and overall thought. I
mentioned these to the players at the camp, so wanted to put them here at least
as a reminder to them:
I’ve long expounded on the benefits of X and O Labs’ site.
You can go there here. In particular,
the OL at the camp will find much of this article familiar. They have quality articles every week,
and it is still only $35 (or so – my membership is up in May) a year. Highly
worth it. They’re also on Facebook and on Twitter at @XandOLabs.
If you’re involved at all with OL play you need to follow
LeCharles Bentley. His Twitter feed is at @OLineWorld65 and his website is at lbolineperformance.com. He’s got
the only facility in the world dedicated to the building of offensive linemen.
He really digs into detail about how the body works, and the little details of
stance, steps, etc. that make a huge difference. Even if you don’t agree with
something he says (as I have a couple of times), he’s got science and
experience behind him and I promise that you’ll at least revisit why you do the
things you do. And that is a huge part of growth……
Finally, you should follow Coach Matt Jones, the Asst OL
coach from Tulane University. You can best find him under “LinemanLunch” on
either Facebook or Twitter @LinemanLunch. Coach posts almost daily a short clip
of OL doing the things they do. They serve as GREAT examples of how you want
your players to do the same things. Let’s face it – the high level techniques
are pretty much universal. Everybody wants a good base, good drive, aggressive
nature, etc. These clips provide visual reinforcement of the concepts you’ve
taught at practice.
That's it for now. It's good to be back!
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